Teen Titans: Aftermath Christmas Special
by HolyMaryMotherofGawd
Summary: A 3 part Christmas-themed miniseries that takes place within the timeline of Teen Titans: Aftermath.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey there, I hope you all are having a wonderful December and are starting to get into the Christmas spirit!**

**We've recently had a buttload of the white stuff up here in Abbotsford, British Columbia and this has given me the idea to do a little bit of a Christmas thing in the 'Aftermath' universe. **

**I know it may seem like I'm stuffing the story and Machina down people's throats, and to be honest, I sorta am. But hey, I've got my own canonical universe going on in my brain. I have a very active imagination. **

**So, here's how this is gonna play, Ima release 3 chapters for this thing, with the final one coming out on Christmas Eve. Sound good, yeah?**

**Some fluff may come out of these chapters. I've never actually written fluff, so hopefully it won't suck.**

**Happy Holidays.**

**~HolyMaryMotherofGawd**

* * *

1.) The Night Before Christmas

It was three days before Christmas. The tree was up and fully lit, casting a glow along the Common Room, which had a number of candles sitting around, adding to the tree's glow. The six Titans, Robin, Raven, Machina, Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy were all sitting on the couch, each with a glass of Cyborg's eggnog, engaging in conversation. Robin and Starfire were cuddled up on one end, cyborg was in the middle, and Beast Boy, Raven, and Machina were on the other end. Machina being between the grey demoness and the green changeling.

Cyborg stood up and spread his arms apart. "All right y'all. Gather 'round!" He exclaimed. "Uncle Cyborg's gonna grace your lives with a Christmas tale!"

"Oh, joy." Raven said, rolling her eyes. "I'm warm and fuzzy already."

Beast Boy wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Maybe you would be if you scooched a little closer to Machina."

Machina gave Beast Boy a blank stare, then looked up at the ceilng.

"Is that Mistletoe? Suddenly I feel like kicking ya' on the mouth." Machina said bluntly.

"Oh, glorious!" Starfire said cheerfully, raising from her seat. "I must fetch Silkie, he would want to hear this!" She flew quickly into the kitchen to look for her pet worm-thing. This was soon followed by loud crashes, after which she returned with Silkie in her arms.

Cyborg cleared his throat.

"Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except for a mouse."

The rest of the Titans looked at each other. Was he _really _reciting this old story?

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there."

Beast Boy raised his hand. "That's Santa, right?"

Cyborg sighed. "Yes, Beast Boy. That's Santa."

Cyborg cleared his throat again.

"Raven and Machina were snug in their bed,"

"What?" they both replied in unison.

"While visions of sugar plums danced in their heads."

Machina leaned over to Raven. "I'll be big spoon, you be little spoon eh?"

She walloped him in the back of the head. "In your dreams."

"With Beast Boy in his kerchief, Starfire in her pink pajamas or whatever, And I in my cap, had just settled down for a long winters nap."

Robin looked confused. "What about me?"

Cyborg shrugged. "You're not sleeping. You're hunched over, typing away at your computer on a Slade case or something."

The rest of the Titans laughed while Robin grumbled. Cyborg continued his story.

"When out on the lawn, there arose such a clatter. The Titans all got up, to see what was the matter..."

* * *

_ "Titans! There's somebody out on the island! We need to go see, now!" Robin yelled, traffic light suit donned. _

_"Dude, it's like, three in the morning!" Beast Boy whined, rubbing his eyes. _

_Cyborg yawned. "Yeah, come on man. You're just hearing things."_

_Starfire was humming an off tune Christmas song. Raven and Machina didn't say a word._

_"Titans, Go!" Robin flew away to the window in a flash, looking outside. His face suddenly hit the glass with a good amount of force._

_"Robin! What's wrong!" Cyborg yelled, as he ran to the window. He looked outside, and his jaw dropped._

_The rest of the Titans ran to the window and went collectively slack-jawed._

_They saw a miniature sleigh, that was being pulled by 8 reindeer. The jingling of Christmas bells could be heard in the distance, as well as a faint "Ho, ho, ho!" They all followed the figure until it went above them._

_Then they heard a bump on the roof. This was followed by some pawing of hooves._

_"You're shitting me." Machina said, looking up at the ceiling._

_Then, the latch that lead to the rood opened. Starfire began to squeal in excitement. Robin armed a birdarang._

_They all went slack jawed again, even Raven, when the big man himself, Santa Claus, jumped down from the latch with the grace of a ninja. He looked up at the six dumbstruck Titans and stopped dead._

_"Um." he said in a jolly voice. "Hello."_

_Raven pointed a trembling finger at him. "You...you exist."_

_Santa put his fists on his hips and stuck his chest out. "Of course I exist! How else do each of you get an extra present in addition to the ones you receive from each other?"_

_The Titans remained silent. They hadn't actually questioned this before, somehow._

_Robin, being the skeptic his is, started to poke questions. "So. If you're the REAL Santa, what do each of us want the most for christmas?"_

_Santa grabbed his belly and laughed. His 'Ho, Ho, Ho!' instantly making everyone in the room feel cheerful._

_"Very well. If I have to give you any more proof." He walked up to Robin._

_"Robin, you want nothing more than to drive the Batmobile. It's what you've wanted since you first met Batman." Santa said._

_Robin was silent as Santa then moved to Cyborg._

_"Victor Stone, you want an A-2768BT processing chip so you can give yourself more power in all of your functions."_

_Cyborg grinned. "Spot on, my man." He fist bumped Santa._

_"Raven, you want the impossible to find, extremely rare first edition of the teachings of Raznok the Wise."_

_Raven nodded._

_"Starfire, you want...mustard."  
_

_Starfire squealed, and instantly gave Santa one of her bone crushing hugs. "Oh, yes! You are most correct!"_

_Santa regained his bearings, and stepped over to Machina._

_"You want a guitar. Not just any guitar. An Epiphone, Korina '58 Explorer and a 'Mustang III' amplifier to go with it. Fully digital."_

_Machina gave the thumbs up. "Hell yeah!"_

_Finally, Santa made his way to Beast Boy._

_"And you. You want a copy of the newest Mega Monkeys game, correct?"_

_"You know it." Beast Boy responded, grinning._

_"Also, Beast Boy. You are the king of the universe and the best in everything ever. You are the hottest hunk of man on the planet, and every girl in the universe wants you. Also, I'm a monkey."_

_Santa then began to dance around and make monkey noises._

* * *

"Oh! Thanks a lot, Beast Boy! You HAD to go and ruin the story!" Cyborg yelled. "Y'know, I spend all of 5 minutes thinking of a way to cleverly fit all of us into 'Twas The Night Before Christmas, and I would like a little courtesy!"

Beast Boy threw his arms up. "Aw, come on dude! Your story is totally boring! I had to do something to spice it up!"

"HEY!" Cyborg retorted. "My story is NOT boring."

"Uh, yes it is!" Beast Boy shouted. "If it was any more boring, I would've died! Of boredom! That's how boring it is!"

Cyborg growled. "Oh, that's it green bean. IS ON!" Cyborg tackled Beast Boy.

Machina and Raven were sitting alone on their end of the couch now. Raven rolled her eyes.

"They never get tired of fighting, do they?" she asked.

"Nope." Machina yawned.

"Are we tired?" Raven asked in a heavily sarcastic tone.

"Yep." Machina stated bluntly as he rested his head on her shoulder.

"Um." was all she had to say.

"Oh." Machina started, looking up at her. "You don't mind if I use your shoulder as a pillow, do you?"

Raven sighed. "I guess not. Just this once."

"Kay. Thanks." Machina said, closing his eyes.

Raven leaned back, and closed her eyes as well.


	2. Chapter 2

2.) The Lighting of the Tower-Part One

_December 23rd, 2013._

The sun was beginning to set over Jump City. Christmas lights in the suburban areas were starting to light up, and cars were heard as people were getting home from their daily commutes. The Titans Tower was always decorated for Christmas, and they needed to get things ready for the big annual lighting of the tower for the next day. It was a yearly event, and hundreds , if not thousands of people showed up every year.

"Machina, I said I'll handle that!" Cyborg yelled at Machina from the roof of Titans Tower. Machina was making his way down the side of the tower, using the Tether to secure him to the rooftop.

"Nah, man! I got this!" Machina answered back through a COM channel built into their suits as he shimmied his way down the building like how a rock wall climber would. Machina had his helmet activated for safety. "Where did you say the hatch was again?"

Cyborg sighed. "Halfway down. Listen, I usually have Star or Raven hold me up while I'm doing this, and even then I have climbing gear on." he said. "All you're using is the Tether to hold you up. Sooner or later, your arm's gonna get tired."

"So, I better do this quickly then."

"At least let me get Star to help you."

Machina's voice buzzed in Cyborg's ear. "That's not necessary, is it?"

Cyborg face palmed. "You don't even know what to do. If the fall doesn't kill you, the electrocution will."

Machina stayed non-chalante to the danger. "So, just tell me what to do. All I'll have to do is flip a switch or two, right?"

"Not exactly." Cyborg was serious. "There are a couple wires you're going to have to switch around, and a couple circuits you're gonna have to play with. The exterior Tower decorations take a lot of power." he paused. "Just let me do it."

"I said I got this."

Cyborg groaned.

"Oh hey!" Machina said, a tad of excitement in his voice. "I found the hatch!"

"Open it."

There was silence in Cyborg's ear as Machina opened the hatch.

"Okay. Got it. Now what?" his voice crackled.

"You'll see a green wire."

Silence.

"Green?" Machina asked.

"Yes, green."

Silence again.

"Okay. Found it."

Cyborg continued. "You'll also see a red wire. Do you see it?"

Machina was almost instant in his response. "Yep."

"Okay." Cyborg said. "Unplug those."

Machina unplugged the two wires with one hand, holding them both in the same palm with his other arm hanging above him as he held himself with the Tether.

"Now what?" he asked.

"You'll see a plug labeled 'Exterior Override."

"I see it."

"Plug the red wire in the red plug and the green wire into the green plug." Cyborg felt a bead of sweat go down his forehead.

"Done." Machina replied after a few seconds of silence.

"Now, among the other wires that you SHOULD NOT TOUCH," Cyborg continued. "You'll see another hatch. Open that up."

Machina reached in and pulled the hatch open. It required a little bit of force. "Opened."

"You'll see a switch labelled 'Feed'. Flip that upwards."

"Okay." Machina answered as he flipped it upwards.

"Now, you'll see a glowing blue wire. Don't touch that, whatever you do." Cyborg warned.

However on Machina's side, the COMM faltered a little. Cutting Cyborg's voice at times.

"Now, you'll see a glowing blue wire...touch that." was what he received.

"Alright." Machina answered as he reached for that one wire.

A small explosion suddenly rocked the side of the Tower, followed by an "Ow!"

* * *

Machina was sitting on the couch in the Common Room, his body singed comically to a light grey, and his hair standing up on end. He twitched every time a small electrical shock ran through his body. Raven was tending to his wounds. The other Titans all sat or stood around the common room, engaging in conversation, or snickering at Machina's predicament.

"Why didn't you just let Cyborg do it?" Raven deadpanned.

"Because it wasn't that difficult." Machina replied as he twitched a little.

"Mmhmm." Raven added. "You did a great job. He told you not to touch that glowing wire."

"The COMM malfunctioned." Machina said. "It made it sound like he wanted me to do something with it."

"You should have double checked, genius." Raven rolled her eyes. "At least the whole thing isn't broken."

"I know." Machina sighed. " I screwed up."

"You did."

There was silence for about ten more minutes as Raven healed the last of his injuries.

"There you go. All done." Raven said in her monotone.

"Thank you." Machina stood up.

"No problem." Raven turned and walked away to the elevator without another word.

Machina shrugged. Just at this moment, Cyborg burst through the elevator in the Common Room, throwing his arms wide in the air.

"She's ready to go!" he beamed.

"Awesome!" Beast Boy responded. "This year's gonna ROCK!"

"Yes! It will be most glorious! I always love the lighting of the tower!" Starfire twirled in the air.

"Good to know." Robin smiled. "Do you know if Raven will be joining us this year?"

Cyborg shrugged. "I dunno."

Machina stood up, and twitched again as a small 'zzt' could be heard coming from his body. "What do you mean you 'dunno.'?"

Cyborg shrugged again. "I dunno. She hasn't joined us for this event before."

Machina raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Robin rubbed the back of his head. "She...doesn't like big crowds of people. She's uncomfortable."

"I also think she's afraid that she'll be rejected and unliked by the general public." Cyborg added. "Which is ironic, because people always ask where she is at the Meet 'n' Greet."

Beast Boy piped up. "Speaking of which!" he ran up to Machina. "Since this is your first Tower Lighting, I have to warn you. Since you're the newest Titan, everybody's gonna be curious about what you're like. Expect a lot of people and press to focus on you."

Machina shrugged. "No big deal."

Cyborg clapped his hands together. "Alright! Who wants Eggnog!?"

Everybody in the common room cheered, except for Machina, who looked back at the elevator.

* * *

Raven was trying to read when she heard a knock at her door.

"Who is it?" she said calmly, masking her irritation.

"It's me." she heard Machina say from the other side. She put her hood up, and walked to the door. She cracked the door open a little bit, not opening it all the way.

"What?" she asked coldly.

"I, uh." Machina stammered, a glass of Cyborg's homemade Eggnog in his hand. "Brought you some...drink." he held it outwards. She took it.

"Thanks." Raven went to close the door.

"Another thing!" Machina asked, summoning his courage. "Why do you never go to the Tower lighting?"

"I don't like people." she deadpanned as she went to close the door again.

"People like you, though." Machina answered, a cheesy grin coming onto his face.

Raven cocked an eyebrow, and the door began to slide shut as she turned around. Machina stuck his hands into the opening and held the door open. He stuck his head in.

"Which leads me to this question..." he said, his voice trembling from nervousness. "You wanna..."

Raven turned and looked at him. "Yes?"

"Do you, um." Machina gulped. "Do you wanna go with me to the Tower Lighting then?" he closed his eyes and braced for impact.

"You're asking me to go with you to my own team's event?" she responded.

"Um." Machina grinned. "Yes?"

Raven pondered his question. Machina was annoying, yes, but at least he was making an effort. Things between her and Beast Boy had been tense lately, and he had stopped trying to 'get her out of her shell'. But she hated giant crowds, and she was sure nobody would want to meet her at the Meet 'n' Greet thing Cyborg and Robin insisted they put on. Truth be told, that hurt her. But then again, how would she know? She's never been, and Cyborg insists people ask where she is.

As for Machina's offer, it was Christmas. She might as well be nice to him and go along with it. Just this once.

"Okay." Raven replied after a few moments of silence. "I'll go with you."

"Really?" Machina sounded a little too excited.

"Yes." she then she closed the door with her powers, sending Machina stumbling back into the hallway.

Machina was silent for a few seconds, before finally fist pumping in victory as he walked away.

Inside of her room, Raven smiled to herself.

**TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW.**


	3. Chapter 3

3.) The Lightning of the Tower-Part 2

_December 24th 2013_

Upbeat holiday music was blasting through the speakers set up around the Tower. The yearly annual Christmas Eve "Lighting of the Tower" was in full swing, with a massive crowd of over 2000 people showing up to the island. Not everybody in the city can make it, considering they may have their own Christmas Eve plans. The majority of the crowd were children with their parents and teenagers, most of which were in a giant line going into the Tower for the 'Titans Meet 'n' Greet'. They would go up to the Titans, exchange a few words, an autograph, a picture, and then head off to look around the tower and receive the free hot chocolate and eggnog being handed out by volunteers. Cyborg's recipe, of course.

The six Titans were all standing in the Common Room, greeting people, taking pictures, signing autographs, and even engaging in casual conversation with the people of Jump City. A lot of the children were excited beyond their wildest dreams, some were shy, 95% of the teenaged girls went there to flirt with the male Titans, and a lot of the teenaged boys went there to oggle Starfire and, to her own surprise, Raven. What didn't come as a surprise, however, was the amount of attention Machina got. He was the newest, so naturally, everybody was curious about him. He only had a handful of quick, three question interviews on the news, and not a lot was known about him. He had his helmet off for the entire night, except when he was taking a picture. He never had his helmet deactivated when he was out in public, and he always did his interviews with it off, and people were able to recognize him.

The Titans were all wearing some form of Christmas themed clothing, they couldn't do much more than a hat or accessory due to them being in their traditional costumes. Cyborg made his blue parts glow the traditional Christmas red and green, Starfire had a pair of Reindeer antlers on her head, Robin was wearing a Santa Hat, as was Beast Boy and Machina. Raven reluctantly put on a Christmas rendition of her regular cloak, which had white fur lining along the middle edges, and was colored red.

Robin was nice to the guests, opting for a handshake with every person he met. Cyborg was enthusiastic, as he was actually all hyped up and he loved to greet the fans. Beast Boy was great with the kids, and tried to be suave for his female fans, which was usually met with giggles. Starfire would always hug the fans, not too hard, and would always engage in over-excited conversation. Machina was just a nice guy overall, giving and receiving hugs from people.

Raven was awkward at first. She had her hood up and would only greet people with short 'hello's before reluctantly taking a picture. Kids would tell her how cool she was, and teenaged boys would talk to her and sometimes made comments regarding how they found her attractive, she would thank them for coming, and sent them off with a 'Merry Christmas'. After a while she had warmed up to the people, she lowered her hood, engaging in conversation, hugging children, and even smiling.

Machina and Raven stuck together the whole night, considering that he was technically 'taking' her to this event. She had to admit, she was enjoying herself and his company.

"See? What did I tell ya?" Machina approached her from the side, poking her in the arm. "It's not so bad."

"No, I guess it's not." Raven said back, harboring a small smile on her lips.

"Are you...smiling?" Machina grinned at this.

"Maybe." Raven said, her grin turning into a playful smirk.

Machina smiled back. "Told you people like you." he said, nodding to the line formed in front of Raven.

"Yes. They do, don't they?" Raven looked back. "The kids are sweet, and the compliments from the teenagers are flattering, but if I hear one more sultry comment about my legs I'm gonna explode."

Machina chuckled, and looked at said legs. "They are nice."

Raven glared at him.

"Shutting up." he turned and went back to his line of people.

Raven chuckled and turned to her own line, and in the front was a small girl around the age of 6 and her mother. The child was wearing a grey toque. There was no hair coming out from the toque, so Raven assumed she had it cut short.

"Hello there." Raven started, crouching down to the girl so that she was eye level with her. "What's your name?"

"I'm Madeline." the girl said with bright eyes and a grin.

"Hello, Madeline." Raven gave her a soft smile.

"You're my favorite Titan because your powers are so cool and you're so pretty and I love you hair and you're just amazing!" Madeline bounced up and down in a fashion similar to Starfire.

Raven laughed a little at this. "Thank you, Madeline. That's very sweet of you."

Madeline then suddenly brought her hand up to her toque and took it off. Raven was taken aback.

Madeline had no hair, obviously a result of chemotherapy for cancer treatment. The child's face was bright and joyful, betraying the looming fact that she had a horrible disease in her body. Raven looked up at Madeline's mother, who gave her a sad kind of smile.

"Madeline was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia when she was four. She's been having Chemotherapy." the mother started. "And it's...been her life's dream to meet you."

Raven's mouth went slightly agape as she looked back down at Madeline.

"But, the biggest reason that I like you the most because you're different!" she started. "You teach me every day that it's okay to look different, because it's not what you look like on the outside that matters. And I love that story about you defeating that Trigon guy, because that tells me that even if I have something horrible inside of me, I can overcome it and things will get better!" The girl's smile grew even wider.

The rest of the Titans overheard this, looked over, and smiled.

Raven was dumbfounded, and tears began to well up in her eyes. Without saying a word, she drew Madeline into a warm hug, and the girl returned the embrace.

"You'll get through this, Madeline." Raven told her, a tear dripping down her cheek. "I know you will. I have faith in you." they continued to hug for another ten seconds, and Madeline's mother took a picture of the moment, crying herself. Finally, they broke apart, and posed for another picture. Madeline then took her mother by the hand, and walked off. A lot of people around the common room took notice of what had just happened.

"Bye Raven." Madeline waved.

Raven smiled, sniffled once, and waved back. She wiped her eyes after Madeline was out of sight. Machina walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Again, I told you people like you." he said softly.

* * *

Raven sat on the roof of the still lit Tower and stared off into the midnight sky, deep in thought. The whole thing with Madeline hit home for her, and she wasn't able to shake those feelings that she had received. Her thoughts were broken by the sound of the roof latch opening.

"Hey there!" Machina said as he climbed out.

"Hello." Raven said, plainly.

Machina walked up and sat beside Raven, holding two mugs. He handed her one, and she found that it had warm herbal tea in it.

"It's amazing isn't it?" Machina said, looking off into the distance.

Raven looked over at Machina silently.

"How we can effect people's lives so personally without even saving them from something like a villain." he looked Raven in the eyes. "Just by being here."

Raven cupped her mug with both of her palms, and took a sip. "What that girl told me. How she maintains a cheerful attitude while being diagnosed with cancer, just because she looks up to me. It makes me feel like...I can't describe it."

Machina sighed. "No. You can't." he looked back out at the lake.

There was silence for a few more seconds. Raven looked over at Machina, leaned in, and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Thanks for dragging me out here tonight." she said as she rested her head on his shoulder.

Machina put his arm around her shoulder. "No problem." he answered softly.

"Merry Christmas, Machina."

"Merry Christmas, Rae."

* * *

**BOOM! FEELS AND FLUFF! I HOPE YOU ENJOYED!**

**IF YOU'RE A CHRISTIAN, MERRY CHRISTMAS!**

**IF YOU'RE JEWISH, HAPPY HANNUKAH!**

**IF YOU'RE AN ATHEIST, HAVE A NICE DAY!**

**But seriously.**

**Happy Holidays, and have a fantastic new year.**

**~HolyMaryMotherofGawd**


End file.
